Chapter 32:
Hermione stood in front of a beautiful mirror at the manor. She wore a beautiful, long, flowing dress. Her huge stomach was almost unnoticeable beneath the dress. She placed her hand on her bump and grinned. She could feel one of the babies moving slightly. They had found out the sex of the babies last week. The scan had been amazing. They had seen their little girl kick her leg and the boy had been sucking his thumb. Hermione sighed at the memory before turning away from the mirror and heading out of the room through the glass doors onto the perfectly manicured lawn. They had invited a ridiculous amount of people to the wedding. Hermione's father took her arm, "are you ready darling?"
"Couldn't be readier," Hermione replied honestly.
They walked down the aisle together. Hermione could see Aurora and Curtis sat on their grandmothers' laps and she could see Draco staring at her with an expression that he only wore for her. She grinned at him as her father handed him her hand. "Hello love," Draco whispered.
"Hi," Hermione replied quietly.
The ceremony was beautiful and when it was finished Hermione and Draco were surrounded by their friends. Ginny kissed Hermione on the cheek as Blaise thumped his friend on the back, "well done Malfoy!" Ginny and Blaise had gotten married a few weeks before and had just returned from their honeymoon.
"Where's Gofreddo and Alina?" Hermione asked.
"Around somewhere," Ginny grinned. "They're with their grandparents. What about Aurora and Curtis?"
"They're with my parents," Hermione answered.
The day went in a blur and before the pair knew it they were saying goodbye to all their friends and family. They took special care to say goodbye to their children. They kissed Aurora and Curtis on the forehead before handing them over to Narcissa and Lucius. "We'll see you in two weeks," Draco told his parents. It was scary, the idea of leaving their eleven month old twins behind.
Hermione and Draco apparated to the Malfoy's manor in the South of France. "WOW… Draco, this is beautiful," Hermione grinned as she walked up the path to the big house. The house was incredible. There were beautiful roses creeping up the white walls. Draco led Hermione into the house and gave her a quick tour. It was almost as big as the manor back home but a lot more homely.
Narcissa smiled at her grandchildren who sat on the floor playing with their toys. Lucius was sat in the corner reading the paper. "Narcissa, have you heard from your sister Andromeda?"
Narcissa and Andromeda had recently put their history behind them. "She's coming over later today," Narcissa replied. "She's going to bring Teddy to play with the children."
"Oh, that will be nice," Lucius smiled. "How old is Teddy again?"
"He's two years old," Narcissa told her husband. There was a popping noise as a house elf came in to tell them that Andromeda had arrived. Andromeda and Teddy made their way into the living room. Teddy rushed over to his cousins on the floor. Curtis crawled away from them towards his grandmother leaving Aurora to play with Teddy.
"How are you all doing without Draco and Hermione?" Andromeda asked.
"We're ok," Narcissa smiled, "they miss them a lot but it's getting easier. They're due back tomorrow."
"I wonder how big Hermione will be when they get back," Andromeda murmured.
"Well she's 23 weeks pregnant," Narcissa grinned, "with twins… she could be huge."
Hermione and Draco returned the next day. Their family were sat at the dining room table as they made their way in. Aurora and Curtis put their arms out for their parents to pick them up. Hermione pulled Curtis into her arms for a big hug as Draco grabbed Aurora. After hugging Curtis, Hermione leant into her husband and kissed her daughter on her forehead, "I've missed you," she whispered.
Lucius grinned at his family, "so what did you think of the manor in France Hermione?"
"It's beautiful," Hermione smiled as she returned Curtis to his highchair before sitting at the table next to her husband. Draco took her hand in his under the table. "So what have we missed?"
"Not much," Narcissa smiled, "Andromeda brought Teddy over to play with Aurora and Curtis."
"Other than that we've just been buying things for Scorpius and Katriona," Lucius grinned.
"Speaking of which; how are our grandchildren doing?" Narcissa asked.
"Very good, thank you. They keep kicking," Hermione grinned as she felt the now familiar thump in her stomach.
The following week Hermione had an appointment at St Mungo's to check on the babies. Draco accompanied her to the appointment. They waited in the waiting room, "so you start work tomorrow?"
"Yep," Draco frowned.
"I wish we had longer," Hermione sighed.
"Me too love, me too," Draco put an arm around her, "but if I start work now then I can take more time off when the babies are born."
Hermione nodded, she understood, they'd agreed that this was the best thing to do. A healer called, "Mrs Malfoy!"
Hermione stood up and followed the healer into the next room. She got onto the bed as Draco took a seat next to her. The healer smiled, "so let's just do a few tests to make sure that everything is running smoothly."